Sustainable Procurement Procuring the Future for London

1
Sustainable ProcurementProcuring the Future for
London

• Nicole Fletcher
• Acting Sustainable Procurement Manager
• Strategic Procurement Unit London Borough of
  Camden
• 26th October 2006

2
LCE Project

• A two year project, funded by the London Centre
  of Procurement Excellence, which aims to ensure
  that sustainable procurement is embedded into all
  London authority procurement processes and key
  contracts.
• Project Objectives
• Use sustainable procurement tools in three
  procurement exercises.
• Develop model specifications for the 3
  procurement exercises.
• Develop and deliver training and awareness
  raising.
• Establish a supplier engagement forum for the
  procurement exercises.
• Create an information sharing mechanism.

3
LCE Project Islington

• Islingtons Meals in the Home contract is 1 of 3
  contracts the LCE project is assisting.
• The project aims to bring about a coordinated
  approach participation of other local
  authorities in a working group to share knowledge
  and experience on sustainability and the Meals in
  the Home Service.
• Project outcomes and methodology will be reported
  to London boroughs to inform and assist them to
  replicate our successes.

4
Islington Green Procurement Code

• We are committed to making Islington a greener
  and more environmentally-friendly place to live
  and work, and to work towards a sustainable,
  greener future.
• Main Environmental Problems Identified by the
  Code
• Local environmental damage
• Climate Change
• Using up resources
• Creating waste
• Air,soil and water being contaminated by harmful
  substances
• Loss of Wildlife

5
Meals in the Home - Sustainability Objectives

• Sustainable Food
•       
• Waste reduction
• Support for SMEs
• Reduce CO2 emissions
• Reduce resources use

6
Sustainable Food - Organic

• Decreases exposure to potentially harmful
  pesticides
• Pesticide use in food production costs the UK
  120b/yr to clean contaminated drinking water
• Evidence suggests organic food contains more
  vitamins and minerals
• Limited food additives are allowed, reducing
  allergy risks
• Organic meat has a reduced ratio of saturated to
  unsaturated fat

7
Sustainable Food - Local

• Locally sourced produce provides social and
  economic benefits to the local community, studies
  show this could potentially double the benefits
  of the public sector spend
• Transportation is a significant and hidden
  environmental cost of food provision
• Food sourced at a distance
• requires more packaging
• increases the need for refrigerated transport
  increasing energy use
• Reduces the levels of freshness, nutrient levels
  and taste

8
Sustainable Food

• Seasonal
• More likely to be locally sourced
• Less likely to have used chemicals, artificial
  heat and light to replicate growing conditions
• less energy intensive to produce
• Nutritious
• Crucial to the well-being of clients
• Service is an important source of nutrition for
  residents who may be unable to cook
• Good diet helps to minimise health problems and
  accelerate recovery from illness
• Food needs to be palatable and able to consume

9
Waste Reduction

• Waste in the UK is landfilled or burnt
• landfill space is limited, produces methane gas
  (Greenhouse gas), creates loss of amenity and
  produces toxic leachate.
• Incineration can produce emissions to air, water
  and soil, and create loss of amenity
• Islington Council is committed to making
  recycling easier for residents and business.
• Islington has target recycling rates set under
  Englands Waste Strategy of 20 for 2007/2008
• Waste can be reduced by
• Reducing packaging
• Recyclable packaging
• Reduced food waste

10
Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises

• Government has recognised SMEs are crucial to
  the UK economy, and Local Authorities have signed
  up to the Small Business Friendly Concordat on
  good practice for procurement and small
  businesses.
• SMEs can assist our communities by
• Economic regeneration
• Providing Social Cohesion
• Being flexible and quick to respond
• Voluntary and community sector SMEs may have
  better access to hard to reach groups

11
Reducing CO2 Emission

• Transport is the largest user of energy in the UK
  by sector, and Vehicles are the largest single
  cause of air pollution, related to a variety of
  health and environmental problems
• Governments target reduce CO2 emissions by
  23-25 by 2010.
• Vehicle Emissions
• Different fuel types emit different levels of
  CO2, CO, Nox and particulates, they can also have
  different efficiency levels
• Driving habits can affect fuel consumption by
  20-30, with most drivers being able to improve
  their fuel consumption by 10
• Rationalisation of transport routes in
  conjunction with weight loads can reduce travel
  distance
• Heating of food and fuel type
• Food miles (as already mentioned)

12
Reduced Use of Resources

• Water is a precious resource, as a result of
  Climate change, population growth and lifestyle
  changes it has been estimated that Londons
  demand could outstrip supply by Londons 2010
• Water required to produce meals
• Water required in heating meals

13
Quality Assurance

• Quality Assurance Schemes can provide evidence of
  product quality, source and farming conditions

14
Presented by

• Nicole Fletcher
• Acting Sustainable Procurement Manager
• Strategic Procurement Unit
• Finance Department
• Tel [phone]
• nicole.fletcher_at_camden.gov.uk
• www.camden.gov.uk

15
Workshop Discussion
What are you already doing in your organisation
related to these objectives?   What is possible
and what are the challenges (i.e. economics,
technology availability, restrictions in LA
contracts)?   How can we measure the actions to
implement these objectives so we can tell
everyone about our successes? -